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Malta boss expects to take on ‘perfect’ Scotland in qualifying clash

For although Scotland failed to qualify for the Euro 2016 finals, they posted some impressive results in Group D and were drawn into one of the toughest pools in the tournament alongside Germany, Poland and Ireland.

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Similarly, I recall Scotland under George Burley, his first game, when we lost in Macedonia 1-0 and just never recovered.

“I don’t think people again expect us to be there (Russia) but maybe we are better like that, when people don’t expect it”.

Griffiths is a throwback to some of the strikers we had during the 70’s and 80’s, who went on to the pitch believing he’d score; to use the Scots vernacular, someone who was a wee bit ‘gallus’.

Strachan dismissed comments that there was a sense of pessimism among many in Scotland over his team’s qualifying chances and said: “I get (optimism) from the staff and the players especially, but the fans have been absolutely brilliant”.

“It’s a hard group but not impossible and we fancy our chances”, said Fletcher, who will captain the team following Scott Brown’s global retirement.

“Judging by the last campaign, Scotland weren’t far away and we need to take confidence from that”.

What a party that would have been, and the fans deserve to go to a tournament because they spend a lot of money following Scotland.

McGhee said: “The emphasis is slightly more on the attacking side in terms of the types of players we have in the squad”.

“I have been excited for a while, the last couple of weeks, and it’s built up even more since we met up on Tuesday”.

“It’s not the case we can only pick the ones who haven’t been playing”.

“But as long as you concentrate and you’re prepared for what’s in front of you, you’ll be ok”.

“I like Tony Watt”. Seriously, though, I want that badly and I know Gordon does too.

“I was absolutely delighted”.

“But Gordon’s a sensible guy and I think he’s an excellent manager, and it’s all about trying to get Scotland off on the right trail – and the right trail is getting three points in Malta”.

“He’s scoring a lot more goals than Chris Martin and he’s a lot more mobile than him, no disrespect”.

He added: “I would endorse Darren Fletcher as captain”.

Having seen Oliver Burke up close in training, and playing for Nottingham Forest in the Championship, Ritchie believes that his worldwide team-mate can thrive following his £13m move to Red Bull Leipzig, which made him Scotland’s most expensive player.

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“Frank McAvennie was speaking at the launch of a new charity partnership between Mr Singh’s Indian and Tapas and Mary’s Meals UK”.

Phil McCloy